php man page for filter_var_array

FILTER_VAR_ARRAY(3)							 1						       FILTER_VAR_ARRAY(3)

filter_var_array - Gets multiple variables and optionally filters them

SYNOPSIS
       mixed filter_var_array (array  $data, [mixed  $definition], [bool  $add_empty = true])

DESCRIPTION
	This function is useful for retrieving many values without repetitively calling filter_var(3).

PARAMETERS
	      o $data
		- An array with string keys containing the data to filter.

	      o $definition
		-  An  array defining the arguments. A valid key is a string containing a variable name and a valid value is either a filter type,
		or an array optionally specifying the filter, flags and options. If the value is an array, valid keys are filter  which  specifies
		the  filter  type, flags which specifies any flags that apply to the filter, and options which specifies any options that apply to
		the filter. See the example below for a better understanding.  This parameter can be also an integer holding  a  filter  constant.
		Then all values in the input array are filtered by this filter.

	      o $add_empty
		- Add missing keys as NULL to the return value.

RETURN VALUES
	An  array  containing  the  values  of the requested variables on success, or FALSE on failure. An array value will be FALSE if the filter
       fails, or NULL if the variable is not set.

EXAMPLES
       Example #1

	      A filter_var_array(3) example

	      <?php
	      error_reporting(E_ALL | E_STRICT);
	      $data = array(
		  'product_id'	  => 'libgd<script>',
		  'component'	  => '10',
		  'versions'	  => '2.0.33',
		  'testscalar'	  => array('2', '23', '10', '12'),
		  'testarray'	  => '2',
	      );

	      $args = array(
		  'product_id'	 => FILTER_SANITIZE_ENCODED,
		  'component'	 => array('filter'    => FILTER_VALIDATE_INT,
					  'flags'     => FILTER_FORCE_ARRAY,
					  'options'   => array('min_range' => 1, 'max_range' => 10)
					 ),
		  'versions'	 => FILTER_SANITIZE_ENCODED,
		  'doesnotexist' => FILTER_VALIDATE_INT,
		  'testscalar'	 => array(
					  'filter' => FILTER_VALIDATE_INT,
					  'flags'  => FILTER_REQUIRE_SCALAR,
					 ),
		  'testarray'	 => array(
					  'filter' => FILTER_VALIDATE_INT,
					  'flags'  => FILTER_FORCE_ARRAY,
					 )

	      );

	      $myinputs = filter_var_array($data, $args);

	      var_dump($myinputs);
	      echo "
";
	      ?>

	      The above example will output:

	      array(6) {
		["product_id"]=>
		array(1) {
		  [0]=>
		  string(17) "libgd%3Cscript%3E"
		}
		["component"]=>
		array(1) {
		  [0]=>
		  int(10)
		}
		["versions"]=>
		array(1) {
		  [0]=>
		  string(6) "2.0.33"
		}
		["doesnotexist"]=>
		NULL
		["testscalar"]=>
		bool(false)
		["testarray"]=>
		array(1) {
		  [0]=>
		  int(2)
		}
	      }

CHANGELOG
       +--------+------------------------------+
       |Version |			       |
       |	|			       |
       |	|	  Description	       |
       |	|			       |
       +--------+------------------------------+
       | 5.4.0	|			       |
       |	|			       |
       |	|  Added $add_empty parameter. |
       |	|			       |
       +--------+------------------------------+
SEE ALSO
       filter_input_array(3), filter_var(3), filter_input(3), "Types of filters".

PHP Documentation Group 												       FILTER_VAR_ARRAY(3)